"at a time when worship of the army is de facto the state religion,"

I've really been puzzled over this in recent years and can only attribute it to the unrelenting and incredibly successful "hero" propaganda machine that's been rolled out in the past decade or so. The Army was low on Northern bred wannabe corned beef a number of years back I seem to recall. I don't know how recruitment numbers are right now, but my guess is they're doing alright now.